Dahood wrote:I think you are talking about Panasonic in Harrison. They are building their north american headquarters in Newark (th to the governor). Cory Booker is the absentee mayor. His achievements are saving people from burning homes and tweeting about it.

How does the governor get credit for moving jobs from Secaucus to Harrison? It's not exactly like he created new jobs. It's a location move for tax benfits, benefits given by Harrison, not the state.

Posted on: 2013/9/3 21:03

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f___ the prom queen.

I think you are talking about Panasonic in Harrison. They are building their north american headquarters in Newark (th to the governor). Cory Booker is the absentee mayor. His achievements are saving people from burning homes and tweeting about it.

it's starting in Harrison... hopefully it will spread into Newark, it's a shame more companies don't take advantage of that downtown location... so what has Cory Booker been doing? We know the history of Sharp James and previous mayors.

Wow people are still discussing about the abandoned tunnel project. The tunnel is never going to get built, so get over it. Bring more jobs here. Newark and Trenton can be great cities too, but the mindset in NJ is to commute to jobs in NYC and Philly. Develop Newark because we have a real international airpot (with connections to many european and asian countries). Newark also has an amtrak station with a Acela express stop, a light rail/subway system and excellent highway system that does not require people to pay large tolls to squeeze into two lane tunnels and bridges.

Wrong on the highways. If the Feds and NY were willing to partner in the inevitable cost overruns the project would be a go. Christie pulled the plug for the right reasons-untold billions of tax burden on NJ taxpayers, already among the most taxed in the US.

Believe what you want, but day one was how to use the money to pay for roads without raising the gas tax since the transportation fund was depleted.

Quote:

The 7 line would bring NJ commuters not only directly to Grand Central, but to Metro North. The tunnel to Macys basement brings them 15 stories below ground. Just how well do those Penn Station escalators/elevators work now, lol?

The new station wouldn't have even been the deepest train station in New York City. That honor belongs to 191st Street. LOL LOL LOL. There are dozens of train stations around the world that are deeper.

The 7 also isn't bringing anyone anywhere. Its not going to happen. It is likely the train will be extended into Chelsea. Had it gone though, it still would have required a transfer, which adds time to commutes. Again, the real advantage to a 7 train extension was connecting the LIC office market to commuters in NJ. That's brilliant if you want more office towers to develop in a place, but not so great for the commuters coming from Western NJ.

Quote:

Each day more and more people telecommute. Do you think that trend is likely to increase or decrease? We may be actually facing less commuter demand as years progress.

We have largely reached equilibrium on telecommuting. People who can, already do, people who can't, don't. And many who can are being outsourced, so congratulations on that. But as jobs move to the urban core, so will people. If we're going to speculate, which is what you are doing, here is how the future will look: most of suburban New Jersey will be living below the poverty line. Older suburbs without train lines will consist mostly of subsidized housing, discount chains, churches and liquor stores. Urban centers like Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark, New Brunswick, Morristown, and Trenton will have grown larger and more prosperous as middle-class white-collar workers seek affordable urban spaces. Suburban communities like Montclair, Ridgewood, Rahway, Metuchen, will grow more prosperous as that same group abandons outer suburbs. Regional wealth will be concentrated in Manhattan, Brooklyn and to a lesser extent, Queens and Hudson County.

If you knew the timeline of the tunnel to Macy's basement you'd know that Christie gave all the time needed to resolve the issues of who would bear the cost of the inevitable overruns. LaHood offered low interest loans to NJ to cover this, which didn't at all change the fact that NJ taxpayers ALONE would bear 100% of the overrun costs. Not NY (who benefit equally, if not more-remember their ONLY contribution was their half of the Port Authority contribution, not the 1/3 of the initial cost plus half the PA contribution of NJ), nor the Feds. Just NJ. Which would be many, many billions.

The 7 train extension is the best solution, especially we already built the vanity Lautenberg station on the Turnpike-but NY politicians are too savvy to partner with NJ when they think they can hose us totally.

If this tunnel is so important to the region then the Feds should step up and make it a priority-maybe get some of our tax dollars back after screwing us for decades and decades while our Senators have been complicit.

It's rather simple to figure out, even more so if you can look past myopic anti-Christie hysteria.

If you knew as much as you think you did, you would know that the reason the tunnel was cancelled was the governor planned on using the money to repave New Jersey highways. You would also know that there had been a handshake deal in place to keep the project going, but one party held a press conference before the other. Hint: Christie's presser was first. The Governor actually thought the Federal government would let NJ keep the money for some other project. Instead, New Jersey lost that money, taxpayers ended up paying $95,000,000 back, 6,000 construction jobs were never created, and New Jersey still doesn't have better access to New York.

What that really means is not relieving congestion on the PATH by avoiding the transfer in Hoboken to the PATH system. It also means a new line into Bergen County can't get built, a new line in Middlesex can't get built, direct service on the Raritan line will never happen, and additional lines to West Trenton and Scranton, if they happen, will only be indirect service, by way of other NJTransit or PATH trains.

The 7 train, which by the way, is not going to happen, was a plan that would bolster Long Island City's office development more than anything, which actually means more jobs leaving New Jersey. It would have hurt Jersey City's office market. Also, it still would mean a transfer for NJ Transit commuters and would fail to add any additional commuter rail. So while a nice fantasy, it really wasn't ever going to replace ARC, nor was it going to be particularly beneficial

New York doesn't need the ARC tunnel as much as New Jersey. The high paying jobs are in New York, and they are leaving the suburbs. The suburban office market is imploding, mostly because businesses and workers don't want to be there. There are also competitive advantages to being in centralized business districts. As far as New York is concerned, they don't need the ARC tunnel because there is plenty of room for suburban growth on Long Island and in upstate New York. Also, coincidentally, the East Side Access tunnel will save Long Island commuters 10 to 30 minutes on their morning commute, plus save on transfers. What's that mean for New Jersey? By comparison, much more of Long Island will have faster access to the high paying jobs that ARC was suppose to give access to.

Wrong on the highways. If the Feds and NY were willing to partner in the inevitable cost overruns the project would be a go. Christie pulled the plug for the right reasons-untold billions of tax burden on NJ taxpayers, already among the most taxed in the US.

The 7 line would bring NJ commuters not only directly to Grand Central, but to Metro North. The tunnel to Macys basement brings them 15 stories below ground. Just how well do those Penn Station escalators/elevators work now, lol?

The simple reason that NY doesn't want to contribute to the tunnel to Macy's basement, or extend the 7 line, is because of exactly the reason Christie pulled the plug on cost overruns. The East Side Access tunnel is Waaay over budget, with more overages expected as the project won't be finished at least until the end of this decade. Do you think the cost will go down over the next 6 years? Since it's a NY to NY project they are solely responsible for the overages and won't have any more to spare to work with NJ. Simple math, really.

Each day more and more people telecommute. Do you think that trend is likely to increase or decrease? We may be actually facing less commuter demand as years progress.

And let's not forget all the taxes that NJ commuters pay to NY state. They get to pay that, and get a tax credit to NJ. (Don't forget your NYC salary tax is based on your TOTAL family income, even if your spouse doesn't work in NJ!) Pretty good deal for NY-you pay taxes to educate their kids and keep their taxes down. Ever see what real estate taxes on, say, a million dollar condo in NYC vs NJ? Lots lower. Now you know why.

I remember your Point 1 in the papers, truly don't know resolution but I am curious if it was as you state, it might be a interesting debate point in the fall election. I do remember there were some real problems in how they dumbed down the project to make it "economical" and one key change was it was not going to end @ Penn Station as planned. Also believe "high paid white collar " workers do not really worry about public transportation in consideration of where they live.... Public transportation is a mess because of inept management by Authorities accountable to no one... They don't care about their customers and their cost overruns are paid for out of the wallets of taxpayers who don't use the system and of course the riders, most of whom are not high paid white collar types. They are the ones that can least afford what have become annual fare increase... PATH rides will soon cost as much as the ferries.

1. When people talk about the train to Macy's basement, its like they have never been to Penn Station. Its a sprawling complex a block in every direction, with subway access points beyond even that. And its getting bigger. Even without the ARC platforms, its growing outward. The whole point of new tunnels was more trains, and there are not enough platforms in Penn Station as it is right now. There is no other way to build more platforms without making the footprint bigger. Its like saying you want to pour a gallon of water in a pint glass; its physically impossible for the matter to take up the same space.

2. Real estate, post crash, is recovering faster around transit than it is in places without. And if you think that the very expensive upper middle class towns along the rail lines would be that way without their rail stations, you literally do not understand anything about regional development. While its probably true there are fewer people leaving the city for suburban locations, when those people do leave, they absolutely care about transportation. And guess what, you don't pay $1M for a house unless you are well paid white collar worker. If the choice is between suburban New Jersey without a train or suburban Westchester or Nassau with a train, guess where the buyers of the million dollar houses are going. Trick, there is actually a right answer to that rhetorical question.

If you knew the timeline of the tunnel to Macy's basement you'd know that Christie gave all the time needed to resolve the issues of who would bear the cost of the inevitable overruns. LaHood offered low interest loans to NJ to cover this, which didn't at all change the fact that NJ taxpayers ALONE would bear 100% of the overrun costs. Not NY (who benefit equally, if not more-remember their ONLY contribution was their half of the Port Authority contribution, not the 1/3 of the initial cost plus half the PA contribution of NJ), nor the Feds. Just NJ. Which would be many, many billions.

The 7 train extension is the best solution, especially we already built the vanity Lautenberg station on the Turnpike-but NY politicians are too savvy to partner with NJ when they think they can hose us totally.

If this tunnel is so important to the region then the Feds should step up and make it a priority-maybe get some of our tax dollars back after screwing us for decades and decades while our Senators have been complicit.

It's rather simple to figure out, even more so if you can look past myopic anti-Christie hysteria.

If you knew as much as you think you did, you would know that the reason the tunnel was cancelled was the governor planned on using the money to repave New Jersey highways. You would also know that there had been a handshake deal in place to keep the project going, but one party held a press conference before the other. Hint: Christie's presser was first. The Governor actually thought the Federal government would let NJ keep the money for some other project. Instead, New Jersey lost that money, taxpayers ended up paying $95,000,000 back, 6,000 construction jobs were never created, and New Jersey still doesn't have better access to New York.

What that really means is not relieving congestion on the PATH by avoiding the transfer in Hoboken to the PATH system. It also means a new line into Bergen County can't get built, a new line in Middlesex can't get built, direct service on the Raritan line will never happen, and additional lines to West Trenton and Scranton, if they happen, will only be indirect service, by way of other NJTransit or PATH trains.

The 7 train, which by the way, is not going to happen, was a plan that would bolster Long Island City's office development more than anything, which actually means more jobs leaving New Jersey. It would have hurt Jersey City's office market. Also, it still would mean a transfer for NJ Transit commuters and would fail to add any additional commuter rail. So while a nice fantasy, it really wasn't ever going to replace ARC, nor was it going to be particularly beneficial

New York doesn't need the ARC tunnel as much as New Jersey. The high paying jobs are in New York, and they are leaving the suburbs. The suburban office market is imploding, mostly because businesses and workers don't want to be there. There are also competitive advantages to being in centralized business districts. As far as New York is concerned, they don't need the ARC tunnel because there is plenty of room for suburban growth on Long Island and in upstate New York. Also, coincidentally, the East Side Access tunnel will save Long Island commuters 10 to 30 minutes on their morning commute, plus save on transfers. What's that mean for New Jersey? By comparison, much more of Long Island will have faster access to the high paying jobs that ARC was suppose to give access to.

Ianmac, don't be hating on the Short Hills Mall-after all, it probably sends more sales tax money to Trenton than all of Jersey City, not to mention how the local taxpayers there help pay for Jersey City school education.

(JC spends over 22K/year per student-of which local residents pony up just 16.2% of the cost, NJ taxpayers 76.2%, and the Feds 7.6%. Millburn/Short Hills spends 18K/year per student-of which local residents pay 86.2% of the cost, NJ taxpayers 11%, and the Feds 1.8%).

Those people driving from one side to the other have paid for the right to do so it would seem, as Millburn/Short Hills residents pay the highest average real estate taxes in NJ.

The numbers (and points) are stupid. Christie didn't 'lose', for example, $3 billion dollars in transportation funds for the Tunnel to Macy's Basement.

He saved MANY billions of dollars in cost overruns that NJ taxpayers would SOLELY be on the hook for, as the other stakeholders in the project refused to share the pain of the inevitable extra costs. You may research the Big Dig overruns in Boston if you'd like to see the pain that would have been inflicted upon us.

That's just one of many errors/distortions in the slanted link.

Carry on.

Monroe, you ignorant slut. Christie in fact lost several hundred million dollars of the ARC money that needed to be repaid, plus legal fees, plus $18 billion in real estate values that won't be realized without better train access. Also, NJ lost all the tax revenue from the high paid white collar workers who won't be living in New Jersey because they can't commute to Manhattan by train.

Also, the misnomer "train to Macy's basement" is the sort of distinction only made by fat suburban nimrods who drive from one end of the Short Hills Mall to the other instead of walking through it. The entrance to the new tracks would have been across the street from the existing entrance to Penn Station-- true. But that won't be any farther away than NJTransit trains in Moynihan Station, across 8th Avenue. Or put another way, the tracks "under Macy's Basement" would be about as far away as the 1,2,3 trains from the A,C,E trains which both go to Penn Station. On top of that, the Gimbels tunnel connecting Herald Square subway and PATH trains to Penn Station was to reopen, connecting all this transit in one continuous system. You knew that right, or didn't you bother doing your research before reproducing Christie's talking points?

Okay, so yeah, carry on.

Oh, one more thing. Don't ever complain about how crowded the PATH was, is, or will be in the future, because there was $3 billion of federal money that was intended to ease trans hudson commuting that the state isn't getting.

I remember your Point 1 in the papers, truly don't know resolution but I am curious if it was as you state, it might be a interesting debate point in the fall election. I do remember there were some real problems in how they dumbed down the project to make it "economical" and one key change was it was not going to end @ Penn Station as planned. Also believe "high paid white collar " workers do not really worry about public transportation in consideration of where they live.... Public transportation is a mess because of inept management by Authorities accountable to no one... They don't care about their customers and their cost overruns are paid for out of the wallets of taxpayers who don't use the system and of course the riders, most of whom are not high paid white collar types. They are the ones that can least afford what have become annual fare increase... PATH rides will soon cost as much as the ferries.

The numbers (and points) are stupid. Christie didn't 'lose', for example, $3 billion dollars in transportation funds for the Tunnel to Macy's Basement.

He saved MANY billions of dollars in cost overruns that NJ taxpayers would SOLELY be on the hook for, as the other stakeholders in the project refused to share the pain of the inevitable extra costs. You may research the Big Dig overruns in Boston if you'd like to see the pain that would have been inflicted upon us.

That's just one of many errors/distortions in the slanted link.

Carry on.

Monroe, you ignorant slut. Christie in fact lost several hundred million dollars of the ARC money that needed to be repaid, plus legal fees, plus $18 billion in real estate values that won't be realized without better train access. Also, NJ lost all the tax revenue from the high paid white collar workers who won't be living in New Jersey because they can't commute to Manhattan by train.

Also, the misnomer "train to Macy's basement" is the sort of distinction only made by fat suburban nimrods who drive from one end of the Short Hills Mall to the other instead of walking through it. The entrance to the new tracks would have been across the street from the existing entrance to Penn Station-- true. But that won't be any farther away than NJTransit trains in Moynihan Station, across 8th Avenue. Or put another way, the tracks "under Macy's Basement" would be about as far away as the 1,2,3 trains from the A,C,E trains which both go to Penn Station. On top of that, the Gimbels tunnel connecting Herald Square subway and PATH trains to Penn Station was to reopen, connecting all this transit in one continuous system. You knew that right, or didn't you bother doing your research before reproducing Christie's talking points?

Okay, so yeah, carry on.

Oh, one more thing. Don't ever complain about how crowded the PATH was, is, or will be in the future, because there was $3 billion of federal money that was intended to ease trans hudson commuting that the state isn't getting.

If you knew the timeline of the tunnel to Macy's basement you'd know that Christie gave all the time needed to resolve the issues of who would bear the cost of the inevitable overruns. LaHood offered low interest loans to NJ to cover this, which didn't at all change the fact that NJ taxpayers ALONE would bear 100% of the overrun costs. Not NY (who benefit equally, if not more-remember their ONLY contribution was their half of the Port Authority contribution, not the 1/3 of the initial cost plus half the PA contribution of NJ), nor the Feds. Just NJ. Which would be many, many billions.

The 7 train extension is the best solution, especially we already built the vanity Lautenberg station on the Turnpike-but NY politicians are too savvy to partner with NJ when they think they can hose us totally.

If this tunnel is so important to the region then the Feds should step up and make it a priority-maybe get some of our tax dollars back after screwing us for decades and decades while our Senators have been complicit.

It's rather simple to figure out, even more so if you can look past myopic anti-Christie hysteria.

The numbers (and points) are stupid. Christie didn't 'lose', for example, $3 billion dollars in transportation funds for the Tunnel to Macy's Basement.

He saved MANY billions of dollars in cost overruns that NJ taxpayers would SOLELY be on the hook for, as the other stakeholders in the project refused to share the pain of the inevitable extra costs. You may research the Big Dig overruns in Boston if you'd like to see the pain that would have been inflicted upon us.

That's just one of many errors/distortions in the slanted link.

Carry on.

Monroe, you ignorant slut. Christie in fact lost several hundred million dollars of the ARC money that needed to be repaid, plus legal fees, plus $18 billion in real estate values that won't be realized without better train access. Also, NJ lost all the tax revenue from the high paid white collar workers who won't be living in New Jersey because they can't commute to Manhattan by train.

Also, the misnomer "train to Macy's basement" is the sort of distinction only made by fat suburban nimrods who drive from one end of the Short Hills Mall to the other instead of walking through it. The entrance to the new tracks would have been across the street from the existing entrance to Penn Station-- true. But that won't be any farther away than NJTransit trains in Moynihan Station, across 8th Avenue. Or put another way, the tracks "under Macy's Basement" would be about as far away as the 1,2,3 trains from the A,C,E trains which both go to Penn Station. On top of that, the Gimbels tunnel connecting Herald Square subway and PATH trains to Penn Station was to reopen, connecting all this transit in one continuous system. You knew that right, or didn't you bother doing your research before reproducing Christie's talking points?

Okay, so yeah, carry on.

Oh, one more thing. Don't ever complain about how crowded the PATH was, is, or will be in the future, because there was $3 billion of federal money that was intended to ease trans hudson commuting that the state isn't getting.

The "cost overrun" was a convenient excuse for Christie to kill a project he didn't want in the first place. That and "my wife commutes to NY and she says it's not convenient for her." Former Transportation Secretary LaHood (A Republican) met with Christie and offered to work out any disputes about cost overrun, but he killed it anyway.

He did it to take the money and spend it on rural and suburban road projects.

On other point. I've often seen the "NJ gives more in tax dollars than it gets back" for a long time. Both parties use it against the other's elected congressional representatives to prove their ineffectiveness when they are running against an incumbent campaign. I don't put too much stock in that statistic. NJ is one of the wealthiest states in the country, so naturally it is going to pay a high share of taxes. Lots of expenditures are entitlement based, so a representative or Senator doesn't have much say in how that money is spent. And discretionary spending which goes back to a particular state is not for tax relief. States which have a lot of military bases may have more "federal spending per capita" than those without, and there are (likely overstated) ancillary economic benefits to the local economy. But it's not like that money goes right to the taxpayers of that state or they are better off because of the additional federal spending.

We used to have a Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne. If Bayonne ever gets its act together and figures out how to develop it the right way it will be a lot better off than when it was a military site, even though we lost federal per capita spending when the base closed.

Of course we can talk about our representatives doing a better job when it comes to getting appropriations, and the overall fairness of various systems of taxation. But the "we give up more than we get" is not a particularly good argument.

Monroe wrote:I'd love an answer why, with Democratic Senators for over THIRTY YEARS (I think we can agree to give Chiesa a pass on his short tenure, lol) they have been unable to bring back more than $.53 of each dollar we've sent to Washington.

Using 'onenjorg' methods, I'd say NJ Democratic Senators have lost HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of NJ taxpayer dollars because of their ineptness, inability, or lack of interest to properly serve their residents. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost! Incredible pollution because of lack of money to clean our soil and water!

Why is onenjorg silent on this abuse?

But you got hand it to those Senators.... they never went broke trying...

I'd love an answer why, with Democratic Senators for over THIRTY YEARS (I think we can agree to give Chiesa a pass on his short tenure, lol) they have been unable to bring back more than $.53 of each dollar we've sent to Washington.

Using 'onenjorg' methods, I'd say NJ Democratic Senators have lost HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of NJ taxpayer dollars because of their ineptness, inability, or lack of interest to properly serve their residents. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost! Incredible pollution because of lack of money to clean our soil and water!

arcy wrote:Monroe, I am reposting the list of Christie items. I took your criticism out (line through). You have not addressed these issues below. Instead you blamed a "slanted" position on all these issues. That doesn't answer the fact that Christie has left NJ in a worse state then when he started. Yeah, he's popular but he's not getting things done for the majority of NJ residents. I'd be interested to hear if you have anything to say other than insults (i.e. facts): Jobs Lost – New Jersey Falling Behind:7th – New Jersey has the 7th highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent – the worst rate in the region (April 2, 2013)15.5% – New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)47th – NJ’s economic growth ranking (The Times of Trenton 3/4/2013)41st – New Jersey’s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)35% –the amount of jobs NJ has restored since the recession (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)45,000 – Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)6,000 – Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)7,000 – Jobs that could be lost if Christie succeeds in privatizing New Jersey’s state lottery (Asian American Retailers Association, 12/12)174,100 – Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)10,000 – Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie’s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)16,600 or 2.8% – Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)

New Jersey Families Falling Behind:$7,885 – New Jersey’s average property tax bill, up from $6,244 in 2009 (The Record, 5/14/13)18.7% – Increase in New Jersey homeowners’ net property tax burden since Chris Christie took office, due to elimination of property tax relief (The Record, 5/14/13)4 – Number of times Christie vetoed women’s health funding6 – Number of family planning health centers closed, so far, due to Christie cuts to women’s health and family planning82% – Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)138 – Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)7.7% – New Jersey’s mortgage default rate, 4.5% higher than the national average (The Star-Ledger 12/4/2012)8.4% – Mortgage loans in foreclosure, the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation; one out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)20.4% – Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)82% – Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)11% – Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes; the national average is just 3%138 – Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)$200 – Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)83% – New Jersey’s graduation rate, down from 95% in 2010 (New Jersey Newsroom 11/29/2012)24% – Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)7 – Percent that New Jersey’s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011 (NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)48 out of 50 – New Jersey’s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)

Crumbling Infrastructure & Rising Costs:651 – The number of New Jersey bridges found to be “structurally deficient” by the Federal Highway Administration, up from 620 in 2010, the year Governor Christie took office. (The Star-Ledger, 6/19/2013)$13 – Record high cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing (USA Today, 12/3/2012)25% – Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)10% – Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)36% –Percentage of NJ bridges are “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” (NJTV, 3/29/2013)66% –Percentage of NJ roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $3.5B a year in extra repairs – $601 per motorist (NJTV, 3/29/2013)

Abusing Taxpayer Money:$23.8 million – The total cost for primary and special elections to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in October of 2013, rather than waiting until the November general election one month later. (Bloomberg, 6/6/13)$150 Million – The amount AshBritt secured in no-bid contracts from 53 municipalities throughout New Jersey after Christie Administration secured their contract (Star Ledger, 3/29/2013)Over 100 – Chris Christie uses taxpayer money to fund GOP rallies under the guise of town hall meetings164 – Christie and Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have flown 164 times on state police helicopters…and counting (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)$390,200 – Amount Christie and Guadagno have cost taxpayers using state police helicopters (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)$1.2 Million – Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region’s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)$279 Million – Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project for his own political gains (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)$300,000 – Taxpayer dollars wasted in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey; to-date, not a single business has relocated

Taxpayer-Funded Corporate Bailouts… And No Job Gains:54% Fewer – Decrease in enforcement actions against industrial polluters, from 29,579 in 2008 to 13,555 in 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 7/12/13)$2.1 Billion – In his first 3 years, Christie has doled out $2.1 billion in tax credits and subsidies to 171 various projects (NJPP, April 2013)$2.3 Billion – Tax breaks for corporations in Governor Christie’s fourth and final budget alone (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)$261 Million – State tax credits was doled out to Revel casino which filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after opening (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/21/2013)$200 Million – Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)

Budget Mismanagement – Costing NJ Taxpayers:Over $800 million – Money paid skimmed from the state’s Clean Energy Program – paid by New Jersey residents – to make up for lost revenue under Governor Christie’s administration (New Jersey Spotlight, 4/24/13)46th out of 50 – New Jersey’s ranking as one of the worst run states in America (Yahoo Finance 11/27/2012)41st – New Jersey’s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)$282 Billion – New Jersey’s debt, the fourth-highest debt in the nation (NJBIZ, 8/29/2012)$400 Million – Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers’ union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)$3 Billion – The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)$145 Million – Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)$171 Million – Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)$2 Billion – Amount Christie cut education by – a sum so drastic the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional3 – New Jersey has dropped to number three nationally in terms of solar capacity and installations (NJ Spotlight, 3/15/2013)4 out of 10 – New Jersey’s emergency preparedness score. 43 states received a higher score than the Garden State (The Asbury Park Press, 12/19/2012)2,832,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)$2,100,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)- See more at: http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie- ... ers/#sthash.lW5eIDS5.dpuf

Arcy, again-you have to put the 'stats' in context. I'll take the last two points to discuss. This stat is meaningless, because, as you may or may not know, previous Democratic Governors had either paid NOTHING or smaller amounts to the pension fund. So, in effect, what is a criticism of Christie actually shows he's trying to correct the problem, but actually putting money in the kitty and planning to increase the amount for towards the shortfall each year.

I know this silly 'activist' group wasn't around during most of the years that Democrat Governors either ignored the pension contribution entirely (while leaving the bank door open to greater pension abuses to their constituents, of course), but I'm sure they wouldn't have said a peep about it.

Monroe, I am reposting the list of Christie items. I took your criticism out (line through). You have not addressed these issues below. Instead you blamed a "slanted" position on all these issues. That doesn't answer the fact that Christie has left NJ in a worse state then when he started. Yeah, he's popular but he's not getting things done for the majority of NJ residents. I'd be interested to hear if you have anything to say other than insults (i.e. facts): Jobs Lost – New Jersey Falling Behind:7th – New Jersey has the 7th highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent – the worst rate in the region (April 2, 2013)15.5% – New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)47th – NJ’s economic growth ranking (The Times of Trenton 3/4/2013)41st – New Jersey’s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)35% –the amount of jobs NJ has restored since the recession (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)45,000 – Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)6,000 – Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)7,000 – Jobs that could be lost if Christie succeeds in privatizing New Jersey’s state lottery (Asian American Retailers Association, 12/12)174,100 – Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)10,000 – Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie’s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)16,600 or 2.8% – Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)

New Jersey Families Falling Behind:$7,885 – New Jersey’s average property tax bill, up from $6,244 in 2009 (The Record, 5/14/13)18.7% – Increase in New Jersey homeowners’ net property tax burden since Chris Christie took office, due to elimination of property tax relief (The Record, 5/14/13)4 – Number of times Christie vetoed women’s health funding6 – Number of family planning health centers closed, so far, due to Christie cuts to women’s health and family planning82% – Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)138 – Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)7.7% – New Jersey’s mortgage default rate, 4.5% higher than the national average (The Star-Ledger 12/4/2012)8.4% – Mortgage loans in foreclosure, the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation; one out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)20.4% – Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)82% – Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)11% – Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes; the national average is just 3%138 – Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)$200 – Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)83% – New Jersey’s graduation rate, down from 95% in 2010 (New Jersey Newsroom 11/29/2012)24% – Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)7 – Percent that New Jersey’s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011 (NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)48 out of 50 – New Jersey’s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)

Crumbling Infrastructure & Rising Costs:651 – The number of New Jersey bridges found to be “structurally deficient” by the Federal Highway Administration, up from 620 in 2010, the year Governor Christie took office. (The Star-Ledger, 6/19/2013)$13 – Record high cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing (USA Today, 12/3/2012)25% – Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)10% – Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)36% –Percentage of NJ bridges are “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” (NJTV, 3/29/2013)66% –Percentage of NJ roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $3.5B a year in extra repairs – $601 per motorist (NJTV, 3/29/2013)

Abusing Taxpayer Money:$23.8 million – The total cost for primary and special elections to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in October of 2013, rather than waiting until the November general election one month later. (Bloomberg, 6/6/13)$150 Million – The amount AshBritt secured in no-bid contracts from 53 municipalities throughout New Jersey after Christie Administration secured their contract (Star Ledger, 3/29/2013)Over 100 – Chris Christie uses taxpayer money to fund GOP rallies under the guise of town hall meetings164 – Christie and Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have flown 164 times on state police helicopters…and counting (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)$390,200 – Amount Christie and Guadagno have cost taxpayers using state police helicopters (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)$1.2 Million – Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region’s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)$279 Million – Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project for his own political gains (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)$300,000 – Taxpayer dollars wasted in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey; to-date, not a single business has relocated

Taxpayer-Funded Corporate Bailouts… And No Job Gains:54% Fewer – Decrease in enforcement actions against industrial polluters, from 29,579 in 2008 to 13,555 in 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 7/12/13)$2.1 Billion – In his first 3 years, Christie has doled out $2.1 billion in tax credits and subsidies to 171 various projects (NJPP, April 2013)$2.3 Billion – Tax breaks for corporations in Governor Christie’s fourth and final budget alone (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)$261 Million – State tax credits was doled out to Revel casino which filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after opening (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/21/2013)$200 Million – Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)

Budget Mismanagement – Costing NJ Taxpayers:Over $800 million – Money paid skimmed from the state’s Clean Energy Program – paid by New Jersey residents – to make up for lost revenue under Governor Christie’s administration (New Jersey Spotlight, 4/24/13)46th out of 50 – New Jersey’s ranking as one of the worst run states in America (Yahoo Finance 11/27/2012)41st – New Jersey’s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)$282 Billion – New Jersey’s debt, the fourth-highest debt in the nation (NJBIZ, 8/29/2012)$400 Million – Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers’ union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)$3 Billion – The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)$145 Million – Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)$171 Million – Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)$2 Billion – Amount Christie cut education by – a sum so drastic the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional3 – New Jersey has dropped to number three nationally in terms of solar capacity and installations (NJ Spotlight, 3/15/2013)4 out of 10 – New Jersey’s emergency preparedness score. 43 states received a higher score than the Garden State (The Asbury Park Press, 12/19/2012)2,832,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)$2,100,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)- See more at: http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie- ... ers/#sthash.lW5eIDS5.dpuf

"A report by New Jersey's Asbury Park Press, citing recently unveiled documents, suggests that MWW may have won the work because it proposed featuring Gov. Chris Christie (R) in ads while a competing bid from Sigma Group did not. It also reported that MWW and a subcontractor are billing the state $4.7 million for employee compensation, compared with Sigma's proposed $2.5 million request for payment."

First, if shared services have been on the Democrats plates for a while, why hasn't it been done when the Dems had a Gov and control of the Legislature? How come all of the things that people are saying were Democrat ideas have finally come true under a Governor with a Legislature of another party? Because they didn't have the political will or guts to get it done. It's amazing how these great ideas passed through years of Democratic control of Trenton, but happened with a minority party Governor in charge. Corzine's missed opportunity for gay marriage is a perfect example of politicians wanting it both ways. Pension reform? Got done under Christie. Healthcare reform? Got done under Christie. And, only now, does a NJ Governor create a group to go after pension and benefits fraud? Is that something the Democrats have been pushing for years as well, lol? (Fulop wants to do the same, no?)

My major disappointment in Christie has been his unwillingness so far to go wolverine on the Port Authority. I'm hoping he's been warming up by going after the quasi governmental authorities like the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission and the Delaware River and Bay Authority that have been cesspools of mismanagement, financial shenanigans and patronage abuses since, well, forever.

Pebbles is rights. Princeton has been trying this merger forever. Shared Services have been going on for awhile. If Christie wants to add that to his score card, he's again taking credit for something that has been happening for quite some time. He can quote all he wants on mergers and he can agree to them. But, it doesn't take away from the fact that he didn't have anything to do with it.

By the way, in my criticism of Christie, I'm in no way defending Corzine. Corzine was an incompetent governor. So please stop using Corzine as a justification. Your claim that taxes went up during democratic governors is true but partially due to Republican Christie Whitman's gimmicks: "In 1997, Whitman’s also rolled out a budget with a $550 million surplus, but her plan relied squarely on a gimmicky scheme to borrow more than $2.7 billion. The borrowed money was pumped directly into the state’s pension fund, a move that eventually freed up some $600 million needed to balance the budget that year – which was an enormous sum back then. Without the bond sale, Whitman and the Republicans would have been forced to make steep cuts in services, programs and public jobs.

Whitman sold the bond deal as a great, cost-saving bargain. It would pay off its unfunded liabilities up front, saving taxpayers billions in unneeded costs over the next three decades. The $14 billion in repaying those bonds would more than pay for itself in the coming generations.

She unveiled the proposal just as she was fulfilling her pledge to cut income taxes, in some cases by 30 percent. Those cuts may have put more money in the hands of taxpayers, as Whitman claimed, but it left the state less money to balance the budget. Without the tax cuts, the bond gimmick probably would never have happened. It wouldn’t have been necessary.

Fifteen years later, the pension fund is still stuck with an unfunded liability of $25 billion. That red ink is attributed to factors unrelated to the bond deal — two crashes in the stock market, a generous, election-season boost in pension payouts in 2001, and a refusal by every governor ever since to either skip making the annual pension payment or make an irresponsibly skimpy one (the bond deal helped set this pattern in 1997). Yet, the original promise of bringing long-term solvency and savings to the pension fund turned into a pipe dream. In fact, the fund’s woes prompted Christie and the Legislature to raise the retirement age of public workers and require them to pay significantly higher amounts toward their pensions."

In terms of your earlier criticisms of the merits of ONE NJ's claims:The special election:There was an opinion piece in the South Jersey Times that articulates my sentiments. The special election could happen in November but shrewd Christie didn't want to have to have an election with Booker on the ticket for Senate:http://www.nj.com/south-jersey-voices ... campaign=Wake%20Up%20Call

Regarding the "bipartenship," Sweeney has been going after public unions before Christie was on the map. See 2008: "“Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.” http://www.njsendems.com/release.asp?rid=2326In fact, Buono voted in favor of this in 2008 but broke ranks with Sweeney in 2011 with his sweeping changes to pension and benes. Note: Brian Stack jumped on the bandwagon in 2011 and voted for those changes and he's endorsing Christie.

Monroe wrote:Pebble, Christie proposed and Sweeney and the Democratic Legislature agreed on pension reform AND tenure reform, both topics which had been hot topics for members of both parties for decades. In both cases, neither side got exactly what they wanted-which is how bipartisan deals get struck. Having the Democrats realize that reform needed to be achieved to keep the system from collapsing was a huge accomplishment for both sides. I'm sure Sweeney had to hold his nose to sign off on legislation that would go against public sector unions and the NJEA, but in the end even the NJEA signed off on the somewhat watered down tenure reform.

Bullying a position forward isn’t equal to bipartisanship. There are some behind the scenes issues there as well.

There were unions that specifically went out and gave up certain items in negotiation (ie cost the taxpayer less money) so that they wouldn’t lose certain pension. When the state went and passed laws taking that away it should have been pointed out that they bargained in bad faith.

Quote:

Monroe wrote:Tax relief for towns? 2% cap, with allowances if the voters want to exceed it. The recent merging of the Princetons, long advocated by Christie, will be a leading example to similar municipalities (of which NJ may lead the country per capita-a huge waste of money. Do we need Chatham Township AND Chatham Borough, for example?) Shared services is the way to go to save taxpayer money. Can't remember previous Governors of either party pushing for this.

I like how you cite something that local citizens are doing as a means of saving money as something Christie has done. Christie has bupkus to do with Princeton merging. That is the sole choice of the voters of those two municipalities. It also something that they first tried doing before Christie was even born. However, good try in giving him credit!

The 2% cap on property taxes was first proposed by a Democrat in the state legislature. I guess we can give Christie credit for getting on board with the idea.

In short, your two biggest examples of “great things that Christie does” is glom onto the ideas of others and cheer for them to happen.

Quote:

Monroe wrote:The argument that slanted journalism is baseless is so ridiculous I won't even argue. Do you not watch the evening news, lol?

You made that accusation that it’s biased. The burden of proof is on you to put forward. Claiming that my statement is ridiculous isn’t actually an argument.

I’ve watched plenty of evening news over the years and read plenty of newspapers. I also know quite a few people that work in the industry.

Quote:

Monroe wrote:As far as Christie's choice of PR firm, did you miss the part that the Star Ledger said it's a favorite of BOTH parties? Oopsie!

Your reading comprehension is poor. The editorial (it’s not a news article, but an opinion piece specifically designed to be biased) states that both parties received funding from the PR firm. It did not say that each party uses them exclusively.

The reality is that the use of that firm is only at issue because of two factors: 1. The money is intended for Sandy victims.2. The cost of using them is so exponentially higher than the competition that the reason for choosing them in the first place can be called into question.

Quote:

Monroe wrote:I'll lay off the Barbara Botox cracks, though!

I say keep going. It demonstrates your maturity and education level.

Posted on: 2013/8/7 13:33

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f___ the prom queen.

Pebble, Christie proposed and Sweeney and the Democratic Legislature agreed on pension reform AND tenure reform, both topics which had been hot topics for members of both parties for decades. In both cases, neither side got exactly what they wanted-which is how bipartisan deals get struck. Having the Democrats realize that reform needed to be achieved to keep the system from collapsing was a huge accomplishment for both sides. I'm sure Sweeney had to hold his nose to sign off on legislation that would go against public sector unions and the NJEA, but in the end even the NJEA signed off on the somewhat watered down tenure reform.

Tax relief for towns? 2% cap, with allowances if the voters want to exceed it. The recent merging of the Princetons, long advocated by Christie, will be a leading example to similar municipalities (of which NJ may lead the country per capita-a huge waste of money. Do we need Chatham Township AND Chatham Borough, for example?) Shared services is the way to go to save taxpayer money. Can't remember previous Governors of either party pushing for this.

The argument that slanted journalism is baseless is so ridiculous I won't even argue. Do you not watch the evening news, lol?

As far as Christie's choice of PR firm, did you miss the part that the Star Ledger said it's a favorite of BOTH parties? Oopsie!